Timothy A. McConnell was named the New Orleans Fire Department's new Superintendent in a press conference held at City Hall on Wednesday.

McConnell, a 29-year veteran of the department, is the NOFD's eleventh superintendent since its founding as a modern firefighting organization in December 1891. McConnell joined the department in 1984 as a 22-year-old, according to information provided by the city, and rose through the ranks quickly.

A new fire station planned for Thibodaux will serve residences, a hospital and Nicholls State University.

The founders of Acadia Plantation donated 1.5 acres of land for the station, which the Thibodaux Volunteer Fire Department has been planning for years.

The Daily Comet reports that the station will be the department's tenth in the city. Fire Chief Randy Pate said he hopes to begin the public bid process for contractors in the next six to eight months and to break ground possibly by the end of the year.

An employee at a Covington-area assisted living facility is being credited with preventing a major fire after lightning struck the building. St. Tammany Parish fire officials say Kory Buras ran back inside to grab a fire extinguisher after he saw lightning strike the building the other day. No one was hurt.